Roger Ebert and Bill O'Reilly Review "Redacted"

(All Bill O'Reilly comments are taken from his review of "Redacted"... which he hasn't actually seen yet)

ROGER: "Redacted" is the latest from master director Brian DePalma, lavishly filmed and--

BILL: DePalma wants the world to see this horror in living color.

ROGER: It's an exploration of American foreign policy, reduced to very intimate personal terms.

BILL: Speaking before journalists in Italy, DePalma said: "The movie is an attempt to bring to reality what's happening in Iraq to the American people ... the pictures are what will stop the war."

Here's how stupid that statement is: Overwhelmingly, American forces in Iraq have behaved with restraint and are trying to protect Iraqi civilians from terrorists who blow up women and children. That is the reality, pal. Your movie takes the exception and attempts to make it the rule.

ROGER: Yes, but every war has seen its share of atrocities. It's not the sort of thing anyone really plans... it just happens. That's war. It's one more reason to avoid war in the first place.

BILL: "Redacted" will play around the world and may well incite young Muslim men, already steeped in hatred toward America and the west, to act on their hatred.

ROGER: You don't think the invasion of Iraq was provocation enough to cause that? You honestly think someone is going to build a pipe bomb and use it because a Brian DePalma movie pissed them off? How many people do you figure were needless killed because of widespread disappointment with "Resident Evil: Extinction"?

BILL: The American military is doing important, noble work. Brian DePalma and the others who back him should be ashamed.

ROGER: So, my question is... if freedom makes us superior to them, why are you opposed to it?

BILL: My question is, why make a film like this? Most people will avoid it; who wants to see that kind of stuff? It definitely smears the military, and may even put our forces in physical danger. Why do this?

ROGER: It's called "freedom of expression." It's what makes our way of life superior to those of the fanatics, and surrendering that freedom is "collaborating with the enemy" as surely as handing them a gun.

BILL: It's freedom of expression, they say. Well, just because you have the right to do something, doesn't make it right.

Fair-minded Americans should realize that in any war, mistakes will be made; horrifying things like Abu Ghraib will happen. These things need to be dealt with, but not exploited for political gain.

ROGER: How is being anti-atrocity political? That implies that those who support the war must be pro-atrocity. I think people owe it to themselves to see this film.

BILL: They are hurting their own country.

ROGER: Okay, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I give it "thumbs up." Next, we review "Good Luck Chuck" with Jessica Alba, a romantic comedy in which --

BILL: -- a bunch of far-left Hollywood loons want to denigrate the country!